Ladies of the Flight

It was an early start to the day, but when I was offered a chance to fly with two of Canada’s three Chinook helicopter pilots in Afghanistan, I jumped at the chance even if it meant getting up at 5 am.

I am working on an International Women’s Day story for March 8^th and my PAO thought these two would make a great addition to the story.

The morning began with a top-secret briefing on the flights we were going to be making out to the Forward Operating Bases (FOB).  They ran through all the past and potential present threats that the pilots would have to keep in mind when coming in and out of the areas.

After that, I met the Kim and Sylvie and we went over what I was hoping to get and what they would be doing for the flight.

Not long after, I was fitted for a helicopter helmet, suited up in my PPE and went off to the Chinook.  As a mentioned in my earlier blog, the Chinook has a pilot, co-pilot, two side gunners and a rear gunner.  When I arrive at the aircraft, they were going through their pre-flight talk and safety briefing.

Once that was all done, we were underway, today we would be running a transport service for Coalition forces and contractors out to the FOB and be bringing several of them home to KAF.

For the first of the three runs, I was on the Chinook.  I started up in the jump seat, a very confined area between the two pilots and crammed up again an instrument panel by your feet.  WARNING: try not hitting anything and making us crash.  DONE!

Once in the air, the flight was as relaxed an exercise as I have ever experienced; soft on the take off, smooth on the landing and lots of good music over the headset in between.

Both Kim and Sylvie brought a lot of levity to the position and even a couple of “lucky” stuffed animals, including a Care Bear.

After whipping in and whipping out of the most dangerous places in the southern part of the country, it was time to get a different perspective of what these ladies are doing in the skies, so I hopped off the Chinook and on to one of its armed escorts – the Griffon.

The Griffon is a nimble and powerful little helicopter, with two massive guns on either side, it is always keeping a close eye on the valuable Chinook as it comes in and out of the FOB.

At one point, we were hundreds of metres above the Horn of Panjwai’I when we pulled up beside the Chinook, there we floated as I got shots of the Kim, Sylvie and the rest of the crew doing there thing.

The best part of being on the Griffon is while the Chinook is safely on the ground, loading or unloading, it goes for a wild ride, dipping, pitching, banking turns and tons of g-force!  If I didn’t know any better, I think they were trying to make me sick… but all I did was smile the biggest smile and try not to fall out of the wide open door (oh yeah, in case you forgot, I was also shooting and taking pictures the whole time too!)

When it was all over, it was time for the interview and a big thanks for the flight.

For me it was an experience I will never forget and for the rest of Canada, it will be an experience you will get to watch on Tuesday.